The April Orange Weeks 2019 are finished and they were a great success. We had at least double amount of guest more than last year which is a huge improvement and prove the organisers that they doing well and the kids event was above all expectations.  Lots of parents shown up as well. These very special April Orange weeks are also know as “Hankikorri” in Finnish language and it is an unnique two week fly fishing event helt in Kuhmo district in east-central Finland. There are not many fly fishing events that take almost two full weeks and that makes April Orange so different from many other events.

The main location and most important indoor activities are done at hotel Kainuu while the fishing is done at several fly fishing locations in the area.  The Kuhmo region have more than 200 rapids, good enough to fish for 200 days a year. In summertime 18 hoiurs a day.  For me this amazing event  is like a true winter fly fishing experience, and it is something you only must have done at least once in your life. Because country rules and restrictions not being able to fish in wintertime in many countries at all you can fish here in the winter time. Of course there are restrictions but April Orange is very safe. I didn’t have much experience during fishing in winter, but I learned very quickly and today I honestly can say that I am completely addicted to it. The April Orange Event have put a spell on me and next year I will be back again with a lot of new things to show and share with the participants. The April Orange Event is one of the highlights for me where I undoubtely learned the most about fly fishing in the shortest available time. Yes you have to learn quite a bit, especially when you never fished in true winter conditions before, and learn you can a lot during the April Orange weeks. That’s why this event takes two wonderful weeks. 

Is it cold in April in Finland?  YES, it can be cold and it looks very cold on the thermometer, but I join the event twice now and it didn’t feel to me as cold as during those terrible rainy winterdays in Holland. It is the dry air that makes it feel much nicer and you can dress for that very well. I just feel pleasantly with a good fleece and windprove jacket. Last year it was minus 20 at night (and plus 2 in day time in the sun). We still had our big sauna moments in the freezing evenings,  close to the river,  and we all dive into the snow. None of us was cold or really freezing. In both years that I joined A-O now, I had unbelieavble sunny and extremely stable weather,  but each year the weather conditions are completely different of course. Last year I face and experience 69cm of snow and near the rivers even more. This year it was less than half of it. This year the event dates also were a bit later and the temperatures were much higher and the fishing turrned out simply unreal and absolutely stunning. At times it was like fishing in my old days in the 1980’s and everybody knows that the 1980’s were my best grayling years ever.  There was an incredable hatch of the February Red (Taeniopteryx Nebulosa) by the billions , but a much better name would be “April Orange”  because they hatch in April in Finland and I never saw or found a spot of red on them but only orange. This orange colour created the name for the event. The early hatch of the April Orange usual telling the Finnish people; The spring is coming!

There is so much to tell about what I learned in those last two events that I have decide to write a few articles about my experiences. In spite some of my tricks and techniques worked well, especially regarding some of the fishing techniques, I still learned a lot about early stonefly hatches and how fish rising in water temperatures from 1-2 degrees and how to temp them under these conditions. I couldn’t believe fish rise in this cold water but they really do. They indeed rise and with a perfect imitation and presentation they are not even that hard to catch, at least when your tippet and leader is adjusted for the cold water temperatures. Again, and as so often before, I proved myself, and even others, that the right techniques and some clever thoughts really work under extreme conditions. I also will make a nice story on this blog later so keep following my page and you will run into it automatically.

Let me finish this blog with a few special pictures from the 2019 event. I have thousands so just grab a few

AND MUCH MORE….. and more and more

During this 2019 event we had several meetings how to improve the April Orange Event for 2020. The committee have learned a lot from earlier mistakes and I think that they have build up a great program for 2020. It was a huge priviledge to me to help and give a few good tips as well. They already working on April Orange 2020 right now. One of the goals is to try to make A-O accessble for more international guests by creating more powerful activities within the 2 weeks event.

Hans van Klinken

For more information and keep updated about April Orange have a look at:

https://www.hotellikainuu.com/en/ (English)

https://wildtaiga.fi/en/company/boreal-wildlife-centre-2/ (English)

YouTube channel: Boreal wildlife, fishing and living in Kuhmo

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrMnp9Q2VYKHIxIJoa5pFFg?fbclid=IwAR3wt8WQg1sGrOz2EEe9oZPgYd5NC0k-FocIY9U7JXjowLbSPcnDiBWHvoY

For those people more interesting in the amazing trout & graying fishing and Boreal Wildlife and Fishing Kuhmo in east-central Finland… there is a wonderful English page reachable for everybody at: https://www.facebook.com/Boreal-Wildlife-and-Fishing-Kuhmo-1775631085994951/